# Things that started out very, very small and became HUGE **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636 "2010-06-02T13:25:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/21 "2010-06-02T15:34:14Z")
The British ‘Office’ started off as a BBC assignment for co-creator Stephen Merchant. The details are fuzzy, but I think it was some sort of work/school co-op program and he had to demonstrate the skills he had learned by making a short film. Ricky Gervaise, his buddy, starred as the ‘crap boss’ and the rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/22 "2010-06-02T15:47:12Z")
KFC has become the giant it has since I was in college. In those days it was a franchise that some restaurants would buy into as a feature to their menu. Within a few years KFC was big enough to appear in the background in _Goldfinger_ in the Fort Knox area. That was not too long after they first started having their own shops. Not that KFC is all that much different from other food outfits. Just an example of the phenomenon, more or less. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/23 "2010-06-02T15:49:10Z")
Something about the $7,000 worth of Magic: the Gathering cards I have in my garage suggests that they would qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/24 "2010-06-02T15:50:42Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Not that KFC is all that much different from other food outfits. Starting one’s business in one’s kitchen is a bit unusual for fast food, though. And let’s not forget without KFC there’d be no Wendy’s. ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/25 "2010-06-02T16:10:00Z")
The universe. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/26 "2010-06-02T16:11:14Z")
Most (all?) religions would qualify. Just a few believers who were very good at spreading the word. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/27 "2010-06-02T16:12:02Z")
Smiley Faces. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/28 "2010-06-02T16:17:01Z")
_Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone_ was rejected by all of twelve publishers that JK Rowling sent it to. She eventually got a small London publisher, who gave her the mighty advance of £1500 (c.$2-2.5k) and printed just 1000 copies, half of which were sent to libraries. The publisher also advised her to get a day job, as there was little money to be made in children’s books. Worth a bob or two, those 1000 copies. ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/29 "2010-06-02T16:31:08Z")
I’d say that most bands fall into this category. It’s interesting to find videos on youtube of one of your favorite bands playing a basement show to 20 people, when now they play to sold out clubs (or bigger) on their world tour. My submission: the band Rise Against ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/30 "2010-06-02T16:36:05Z")
25 years back, who would have suspected that bottled water would become a 17 trillion dollar per-year industry in the USA alone??? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/31 "2010-06-02T16:42:23Z")
The Muppets? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/32 "2010-06-02T17:04:06Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The Muppets? At least Kermit. Started out on a local Washington, DC commercial. Ronald McDonald also started as a local DC commerical icon, with a very different look from today. Which brings to mind Bozo the Clown. Started with one guy at Capitol Records in '46, then a chidren’s TV host in Memphis in '55. 27 different markets had licensed their own Bozo during his peak in the late-60s/early-70s, with the main one being portrayed by Bob Bell on WGN. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/33 "2010-06-02T17:27:32Z")
Hello Kitty paraphernalia went from being available only in upscale department stores and specialty shops to being friggin’ everywhere, including on waffle irons. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/34 "2010-06-02T18:02:15Z")
What about incidental characters that become cultural icons - like Fonzie from Happy Days or Urkel from Family Matters? Both, I think, were meant to be short-lived characters and instead because huge. Well, not Simpsons or Harry Potter huge, but pretty darn big… ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/35 "2010-06-02T18:18:46Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > At least Kermit. Started out on a local Washington, DC commercial. Not quite. Kermit started as a character on Sam and Friends, a kid’s show. Although it WAS local to DC. I have seen people mistake [Wilkins](http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Wilkins) for Kermit, and he IS a commercial character, though. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/36 "2010-06-02T18:43:07Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > Hello Kitty paraphernalia went from being available only in upscale department stores and specialty shops to being friggin’ everywhere, including on waffle irons. And vibrators. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/37 "2010-06-02T19:06:49Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Kermit started as a character on Sam and Friends, a kid’s show. Although it WAS local to DC. Yes, of course. > [@](#): > > _I have seen people mistake [Wilkins](http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Wilkins) for Kermit, and he IS a commercial character, though._ Wilkins had a voice very close to Kermit’s (and Wontkins close to Rolf’s). ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/38 "2010-06-02T20:02:54Z")
[The Rocky Horror Picture Show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Picture_Show). Generally panned by the mainstream press, the cult following didn’t start until 6 months after its US opening in September ‘75. Never pulled from its original release, it has the longest-running theatrical release in film history—playing some theaters for decades at a time. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/39 "2010-06-02T20:27:45Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I don’t consider getting a series as staring out “very, very small.” That is quite an accomplishment in itsdelf. As I mentioned in my OP, the Simpsons wasn’t even a series. Sorry, I gotta agree Cheers definitely fits the bill. Yes, they had a series, but no, not every series is “huge” and Cheers was anything but huge when it started, and by the time it went off the air, it was an event. Seinfeld, same way. Contrast with, say, Friends, that was pretty much a big hit right off the bat. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636/40 "2010-06-02T21:03:48Z")
The role of Benjamin Linus in _Lost_ started out small, and became a huge part of the plot pretty quickly: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > In 2006, Emerson began a guest-star role playing Benjamin Linus on the serial drama television series Lost. This casting was a result of his work on The Practice because the Lost producers liked his work there and thought he was a good fit for the character they were developing.[5] Emerson was originally set to appear in a small number of episodes, then returned for the third season as a main cast member and eventually became the main antagonist of the program. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-started-out-very-very-small-and-became-huge/541636.md?page=3)